What's your vision? Create a vision board to help determine what you really want

You were born with potential
You were born with goodness and trust
You were born with ideals and dreams
You were born with greatness
You were born with wings
You are not meant for crawling, so don’t.
You have wings
Learn to use them, and Fly."
~Rumi (1207-1273)

When I was around 11 or 12, one of my favorite things to do was to cut out pictures from magazines and decorate the walls of my bedroom. For a while, my walls were covered with Guess, Benetton, Esprit ads from my Sassy, Teen and Seventeen magazines. A couple of years later, the fashion ads were pulled and replaced with the photos of Corey Haim and Johnny Depp that were ripped from the latest issues of Teen Bop.

So, when I set out to create a vision board, it was pretty much second nature to me. I got out all of my old Yoga Journals, National Geographic Adventure and Marie Claire magazines. I threw in a few Latina magazines and a couple of Glamours and I got to work.

What is a vision board? Here is our WikiHow definition: “A vision board is a collage of images, pictures and affirmations of your dreams and desires. It can also be called a dream board, treasure map or vision map.”

Vision boards are often created by people who know exactly what they want to help them manifest their goals. These people make their vision boards by looking for specific images. Like John Assaraf, featured on “The Secret,” who tells the story of unpacking a vision board that he had created a few years prior, only to realize that the photo of the house on his board was the same house as the one he had just moved in to.

But I think one use for a vision board has been neglected: using it as a tool to discover what you want to do and be. As for me, I’m going through an introspective time and wanted to see if I could discover more of what I want by completing a vision board.

“It is never too late to become what you might have been.” ~George Eliot

So I got to work ripping out pages of photos and headlines that appealed to me, stopping here and there to read a few articles along the way. When I was finished collecting the images and words, I unrolled a large piece of colorful wrapping paper across my living room floor and began arranging the images on it. Some of the original images went in the trash can, but many made it on my vision board.

Next, I taped my collage on a blank wall in my room. I sat on my bed and thought about the images. I noticed I and listed all of the things that came to mind when I looked at the images I had collected: Peace, Whimsy, Health, Travel, Yoga, Shedding inhibitions, Love, Community, Openness, Beauty, Connection, Adventure, On the road, Spirit, Creativity, Friendship, Photography, Garden, Beach, Nature, Hiking, Faith, Animals, Motorcycle, Greece, Bonfire, Hammock, Sand, Road trip, Trees, Mexico, Surfing, Treehouse, Energy, Boat, Foreign cities and villages, Honoring the divine, Kitschy, Alive, Maui, Freedom, Kayak, Accessories, New friends, Uniqueness. Spiritual connection.

I then looked through the words I just listed and examined the list for any themes. Here were a few I noticed:

Yoga/health: The first thing that was evident was that I would like to do more yoga again. I used to have a regular practice that has become sporadic.

Connection and love: I want to continue to connect with people, help people connect with each other, make new friends and be involved in my community.

Travel/adventure: I realized I need to travel more, even if it’s just discovering new things in my own state. Time for a road trip! This summer, I want to ride a motorcycle, sleep in a hammock and take more photos along the way.

Nature: I want to garden and spend more time outside. I want get out in nature and take advantage of the beautiful mountains near where I live and do some hiking.

One interesting thing I noticed was that there were a lot of trees in my photos. I thought about this and remembered how much I used to enjoy climbing trees as a kid, and even as an adult. I googled “Good trees to climb in Colorado” and came up with a listing for the Colorado Tree Climbers—who knew? These people strap themselves into harnesses and hoist themselves up high into the trees. I contacted the group’s leader and went out a couple of weekends ago to climb with him. (I’ll have a blog up on this within the week.) It was an awesome experience and something I probably never would have thought of doing before creating my vision board.

Personally, I discovered some very interesting things about myself by creating this vision board. If you’re looking for clarity, I strongly suggest this exercise.

Here are my suggestions for creating your own vision board:

1. Get your supplies: I suggest scissors, tape, and a variety of magazines.

2. Find your inspiration. Go through the pages of your magazines, tearing out any images or words that appeal to you. Don’t try to figure out why you’re drawn to these images yet.

3. Get a background. Find a piece of cardboard, poster board, wrapping paper or whatever it is you fancy, and start to lay out your images on the paper.

4. Notice themes. Once you’re finished laying out the images, get a piece of paper and write down every word that pops into your mind about the images. Notice the themes that present themselves.

5. Create goals from what you’ve learned—things you would like to be, do or learn.

Have fun! You’ll have to tell me what ends up on your personal vision board.

“To change one's life: 1. Start immediately, 2. Do it flamboyantly, 3. No exceptions.” ~William James